The Philanthropist – TV Review

NBC is pulling out a lot of tricks in order to capture the summer, and one of them is eight-part series The Philanthropist which starts Wednesday, June 24th.  Billionaire Teddy Rist finds himself caught in a flood in Nigeria, and rescues a small boy during the effort to escape his flooded hotel.  The event triggers something in Purefoy, mostly a great deal of emotional baggage left over from his son’s death a year ago.

NBC Photo: Kelly Walsh

When he returns to New York, Rist finds that something just feels wrong about his entire life, and he returns to Nigeria to try to help, and find the boy he saved.  He discovers that not all things are easy, even for billionaires, but he is determined to make a difference… somehow.

The first episode comes to us by way of Rist telling his story to a waitress in a Nigerian bar.  It’s frankly a somewhat silly version of the old “yeah sure, you’re a billionaire” trick, but we aren’t forced to overly focus on it.

As you’d expect from something with a predetermined end, it play rather like a movie.  Surprisingly, it looks like one as well.  Shot in South Africa, Mozambique, and Prague, the show takes advantage of some great location shooting, and apparently spares little in production quality.

NBC Photo: Kelly Walsh

The show draws out the setup in a fun and engaging way, with Rist explaining his life, business partner, and history to the barmaid, but much of the initial episode may prove too sappy for many viewers.  There is a certain sense that we’re racing to the conversion (what with our eight episode limit), and it might have wanted to reel the audience in at a somewhat slow-and-steadier pace.

On the other hand, if you make it through the rush of the first episode, you’re thoroughly settled for what’s to come.  What follows are trips to Burma, Pakistan, Paris, and more, as Rist sets out to restructure the course of his life.

The show looks solid, but it’s a tricky game.  The writing could easily go far afield of truly worthwhile entertainment in any number of ways, and that makes one very hesitant about predicting how things are going to play in subsequent episodes.  There is the impression of solid effort within the show’s beginnings, mainly via the Nigerian doctor’s distrust, but it is balanced against dangerous-looking cheap plays ala ‘a harrowing experience had I.’

Reservations aside, the cast is pretty strong and performs well.  James Purefoy, of HBO‘s Rome fame, is a good choice, and manages a nice affect throughout his “inner turmoil” turns.  Law & Order‘s Jesse L. Martin plays his business partner, and though he isn’t given a lot of time at first, he’s a solid actor.  Neve Campbell rounds out the major players.  Thus far, she’s really only had the opportunity to look good, and she’s pulled it off.

The Philanthropist is solid, and is likely to spur a strong hopefulness, but it doesn’t quite shoot out as the next best thing… it might get there though.

Following are a clip and an interview with James Purefoy from NBC‘s press release.

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Why does Teddy become a philanthropist?

At the start of the series Teddy’s your average billionaire who goes on a trip to Nigeria. There’s been a major storm and devastation is all around. He wakes up to find he is in three feet of water and is about to be taken away from his hotel in a boat when he sees a small, shivering, child. Teddy puts the kid onto the boat but a greedy man tries to get in; it capsizes and the kid falls into the water. Teddy dives in and saves the child which then becomes a turning point in his life; he realises he wants to help people.

Teddy finds that helping others fills a vacuum which has been left by the death of his six year old son. Teddy has been trying to fill the void with parties, alcohol and women, but he finds that doing things for others makes him feel good. It’s altruism and complete selfishness. He does it because of the way it makes him feel, but the by-product is that other people are helped enormously by it.

What’s it like playing a character like Teddy with so many different layers?

When I was first asked to do this job I didn’t believe the character for a second. I thought; ‘This is preposterous, I don’t believe someone like this exists’. I was told I would meet the guy who inspired the series and I was introduced to a real life philanthropist. As soon as I met him it all clicked into place. He is the most extraordinary liver of life I have ever come across; with an appetite for all aspects of life, one of them being philanthropy. He goes around the world on a jet with his family and helps people. It’s great because I know now that if anyone ever says ‘I don’t believe a billionaire would do this kind of thing’ I have evidence to disprove them.

Do you feel you learned a lot from this role?

Absolutely. We deal with very serious international issues throughout the series. Each episode takes place in a different country and more often than not the issue addressed is endemic to that country. I did a lot of research for each country and met people from many different cultures. For example, the Paris episode is all about sex trafficking in France so I read articles and books and spoke to people about it. We were careful to make sure we got things right.

Did filming this bring to light how much poverty and devastation there is in the world?

It did, although I am an ambassador of Action Aid and I have spent time in Africa before so it’s something I was already very aware of. I’d like to do more but I’m just an actor! Whatever I do will be quiet and subtle.

Teddy gets himself into all sorts of scrapes. What is it that draws Teddy to these types of situations?

One of the great things about playing Teddy is that he is so multi faceted. He does lots of good things for people but his personal morals are highly questionable. He drinks a lot, he probably does drugs, and he is a man full of contradictions which makes him very interesting to play. He can be one thing one minute and something very different the next. He certainly gets himself into scrapes, for example in the first episode he is trying to get a vaccine to a village because he quite fancies the doctor, but he has to navigate his way through the jungle to get there!

What kind of stunts have you done?

I’m not stupid; I won’t do things that threaten my life so I leave it to the highly talented stunt men to do the difficult things! I did have to ride a motor cycle across a beach and fall off it, and I had to walk through the jungle with bare feet which wasn’t particularly amusing. When you look at the jungle floor in South Africa it is crawling with poisonous stuff. One of the assistant directors was bitten by a spider and the whole left side of his body went completely numb!

Teddy is a real ladies’ man. Does he use his money to pull women, or just his charm?

Sometimes he blatantly uses his money to pull women. In the first episode his plane has broken down in Florida and he’s having drinks in a bar. When the bar girl he’s talking to goes to serve another customer, he writes her a cheque for $1000 so that she stays with him. He’s very blatant but he does it with panache, style, charm and mischievousness!

How does the partnership between Teddy and Philip work?

Philip is cautious and conservative and is constantly trying to put the brakes on Teddy, but he can’t argue that Teddy’s philanthropy and his compassion sometimes gets a better profit for the company. They’ve known each other for a long time and the company is doing incredibly well, but Teddy does go off-piste every once in a while!

What kind of relationship does Teddy have with Olivia?

There is a spark between them; as far as we are aware, Olivia and Teddy had a relationship and at that time he was very bad and was unfaithful. Olivia later got together with Teddy’s business partner, Philip. Teddy is fine with the situation but he can never quite get it out of his brain that she might be the one who got away. It causes interesting tension and conflict between the three of them.

What’s it like being a Brit playing the lead in a US show surrounded by American actors?

I’m surrounded by really top actors. Not only are the regulars really good actors but the guest stars are fantastic as well. I couldn’t be having a better time with the people I’m working with. I said from the start that I didn’t want to do an American accent, so luckily I don’t have to worry about that. I’m basically playing me but with a billion dollars in the bank! I think I’m quite similar to Teddy. We have a similar sense of humour and a similar outlook on life.